“Why me?” I mirrored his stance, waiting for the impending put-down. “Why are you targeting me?”
“It’s always been you, Winters. Always.”
I was fed up with his riddles, so I headed for my house and didn’t give him another backwards glance. I knew he was still there though. I didn’t hear his engine start up until I’d closed my front door.
I sat down in the only spare armchair in Zak’s living room. I had to brush off the papers and other shit he had covering it, but apart from being ridiculously untidy, the dude’s apartment was relatively clean. I couldn’t complain. I still lived at home with my dad. I was saving up to get my own place and the money we made from the events kept that topped up nicely. That, and the commission I made off my cars. The only problem was, Dad needed my help. It wasn’t easy running the garage, keeping the house going, and bailing out my brothers when they fucked up. I hated to see him struggle, so more often than not, I paid him extra rent to help. One step forward, two steps back. That’s what life was like for us Hardys though. I was used to it.
“Talk,” Brandon said, side-eyeing me.
I took a sip of the scolding hot coffee Zak had handed to me the minute I’d walked through the door. I needed to word this right. I had to have my head straight.
“I made headway.” I put the mug on the floor next to my foot and sat back in the chair.
“Made headway how? Last I saw, you were sloping off into the woods, following her.” Zak smirked as he spoke. I know we’d organised that whole charade to get her there, but it hadn’t stopped either one of them from getting their kicks.
“I’m surprised you noticed. You had your tongue so far down Liv Cooper’s throat, I didn’t think you could see further than your dick.”
He chuckled and grinned to himself. “She’s a firecracker that one.”
“Are you seeing her again?” Finn asked looking genuinely interested in his answer.
“Fuck, no. She was a bit of fun. She knew the score. She got what she wanted and so did I. The question is, did you, Ryan?”
All three pairs of eyes turned to look at me.
“Emily’s not like that.”
“Fuck me.” Brandon ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. “Do you need tips on how to get into her knickers, Ry? ‘Cos I can help you. I could show you, if you like. Maybe she’s into that?” Brandon wiggled his eyebrows and Zak laughed. Finn just shook his head.
“And scare the girl away before I’ve hit the jackpot?” I leant forward. “I don’t need to fuck the truth out of her. I do things differently.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard.” Brandon was seriously starting to piss me off.
“I told her to ask him about the Rotherham account,” I said, thinking that’d wipe the smug smile off his face. Considering he was one of my best friends, had been for years, he could really grate on me.
“You did what?” He stood up, coming to stand over me. That smug smile had definitely gone, but it’d been replaced with a grimace. “Are you fucking suicidal, mate? He’ll know it’s us that got to her. Shit, all this will have been for fucking nothing.”
“No, it won’t.”
“How do you know? Jesus, mate, you’re really ballsing this up. I knew I should’ve taken the reins.” He was pacing the living room now, wearing a hole in Zak’s carpet.
“Like I said, I’m doing things my way. She doesn’t take any bullshit.” Zak nodded along as I spoke. “She’ll come to me when she gets what I need. I know she will.”
“I hope for your sake she does, ‘cos if Daddy Winters gets wind of this, he’ll fucking crucify us.”
Brandon sank back down onto the sofa and glared over at Zak. “Have you found anything else online?”
“I can see deposits were made into the account, but the bloody firewalls are ridiculous. I can’t catch a break. I’ve got no idea where it’s all coming from. Let’s hope Em comes up trumps for us.”
“And the accident? This shit has gotta be connected in some way,” Brandon said, and we all felt ourselves tense up. I hoped to God we were wrong. I hoped for Emily’s sake we were, but I doubted it.
“Listen, I’m telling you now, the softer approach is working with Emily.”
Zak laughed. “Softer? You treated her like shit at the party. If that’s softer to you, I’d hate to see you go hard on her.”
“I think hard is what she needs,” Brandon piped up again.
“My way.” I gritted my teeth as I spoke. “This is going my way. If any one of you wants to question me on this again, I won’t be as understanding. Do you hear? This is not up for discussion.”